The present invention relates to handling mobile poultry carts within poultry houses, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a self-propelled vehicle for safely pushing, pulling, and manipulating poultry carts within narrow aisles of poultry houses.
Chicken and like poultry are typically grown in high density cages within poultry houses. An average-sized poultry house may house about 85,000 to 100,000 live chickens. The high density cages are typically aligned in rows extending substantially the full length of the poultry house, and a narrow aisle, or walkway, extends between each adjacent pair of rows permitting access to the high density cages. An example, an average-sized poultry house may have seven such aisles each being approximately 500 feet in length.
Chicken and like poultry are typically required to be relocated to and from various types of poultry houses, processing plants and the like. For example, chicks are typically permitted to grow for about eighteen weeks in a nursing house and are then relocated to a “layer” house for egg production and collection. At the end of the egg laying cycle, the chickens are relocated to processing plants. Transporting poultry to and from poultry houses and processing plants typically requires the poultry to be removed from cages and placed in mobile multi-compartmented poultry carts. Each cart typically holds about 150 to 200 live chickens and weighs approximately 600 to 800 pounds when fully loaded. Filling and/or emptying an average-sized poultry house typically requires the use of about 450 to 500 carts each of which must be loaded and/or unloaded and pushed throughout the length of the poultry house.
Each cart has a relatively rectangular frame supporting multiple tiers of cages. The front and rear ends of each cart are typically supported on fixed and/or caster wheels. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,084,714 issued to Williams and 3,895,727 issued to Rucker disclose examples of mobile poultry carts. Due to the limited space available within the narrow aisles of poultry houses, the carts are required to be manually pushed and/or pulled through the aisles of the poultry house. As an example, an individual worker on a daily basis may be required to manually push carts for a total distance of about one to two miles. Accordingly, the manual handling of mobile poultry carts is both a labor intensive and potentially dangerous procedure considering the significant size, weight, and number of carts and the distance that they must be traversed.
In addition to loading and unloading live poultry, other duties relating to the maintenance of a poultry house include removing mortality on a daily basis and assuring a steady flow of eggs throughout the poultry house. Other duties include replacing light bulbs, repairing and replacing motors, and checking for water leaks. To fulfill such duties, maintenance employees are required to walk each aisle of the poultry house at least two to three times per day.
By way of example, known systems for handling poultry are disclosed by U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,623,232 B2 issued to Cattaruzzi; 5,476,353 issued to Mola; 5,660,147 and 4,365,591 issued to Wills et al.; 4,342,393 issued to Box; 4,020,793 issued to Morrison; 6,655,897 B1 issued Harwell; 6,477,987 B2 issued to Taylor; 5,975,029 issued to Morimoto et al.; and 6,612,918 B2 issued to Livingston et al.
Although the above referenced poultry handling systems may be satisfactory for their intended purposes, there is a need for an improved apparatus and method for handling poultry within the narrow confines of poultry houses. Preferably, the apparatus and method should enable safe and efficient handling of fully loaded multi-compartmented carts within and through narrow aisles of poultry houses.